Persona 3: FES - PS2

Persona 3: FES is the first Persona game I've ever played. I played Digital Devil Saga and got to the end, but got defeated by the boss and never got around to complete it. Another game that I played from the SMT series seems was from the Super Famicon and I can't even remember the title. But regardless of the background of this demonic series, I am thoroughly enjoying Persona 3.  

The story revolves around six high school kids from Gekkokan High, somewhere in Japan. They go to school, meet up with friends, live in a boarding house, and fight demons. Yes, they fight demons with conjured spirits called Personas. 

The game's protagonist goes to school and makes social links with his friends, which in turn powers up his Personas. He studies, plays sports, goes on dates, and gets picked on by teachers to answer test questions. He gains academic points by studying, charisma points by doing well in front of his peers, and courage points by taking on dares. In a sense, he's not like your regular RPG protagonist at all - and I'm loving these aspects!

The game revolves around a calendar and the phases of the moon. While every day you'll have to go to school and find clues amongst the students, nights are made for dungeon crawling. The only dungeon so far in the game is Tartarus. I've only gone up to the 50th floor, but it seems to extend towards infinity. Sundays are days where you're free, but you should go hang out with your friends to boost social links. Then there are the days with the full moons; these are days with boss battles. With that in mind, every day can be used to effect, or wasted if you're not careful. It took me awhile to get used to this format of playing, but once I did, I felt something I haven't felt in video-games for awhile. I get totally absorbed. 

Another aspect is the Rated-M parts of the game. I haven't played an RPG that's rated-M since Digital Devil Saga, and it does make a difference. They can say harsher words and use a lot more blood. Even bosses expose a bit more sexual innuendo than before. But all in all, I think everyone should give this game a try. I know I'll be rushing to defeat it. Hopefully Persona 4 will be just as good.  The following pictures are of the main characters: Mitsuru, Junpei, Akihiko, and Yukari. 

Continued on Part 2

Street Fighter 2 - SNES

In an effort to go along with the times, I picked April to be the month to talk about fighting games. With the release of the much talked about Street Fighter 4, I find myself thinking of all the hours I spent playing fighting games with my Junior High friends. 

Street Fighter 2 was not just a game, it was a phenomenon. It was at every arcade center and every home (when the SNES version came out). I lived on top of a small convenience store and day and night I could hear the haduken's and shouryuken's being punched out on the arcade sticks. It was part of the 90's. If you grew up at that era, you or someone you know were hooked on that game. It literally created the genre of fighting games. For the longest time before that, games like Final Fight and Double Dragon were labeled as fighting games, for they were side-scrolling games that you fought in. But Street Fighter changed that, it was a 1-on-1 fight to the end ~ with NO JUMP BUTTON. The idea of using UP for jump was so new. Of course it's natural to us now. But those guys at Capcom really were on to something. And six buttons? That was probably the only game that had that at the time. 

Now the part that I loved about Street Fighter 2 was that there was an incredible balance in the characters of the game. We all know and love Ken, Ryu, and Guile, but if one put effort into learning the other five: Chun Li,  Zangief, Dhalsim, Blanka, and E.Honda, they could be formidable too. Each had their strengths and weaknesses. I've seen Zangief players crush Ryu types, and I've seen Chun Li players lay waste to Guilde players. It was a wonderful game. 

The game went into some craze about sequels, spawning titles such as Champions Edition, Turbo, Turbo 2, Super Street Fighter, etc. But every one of them have their intricacies. Kind of reminds me of the many editions of Windows. 

I spent a lot of time playing the game. Learning combos, block patterns, offensive strategies, etc. Eventually I learned how to use a bit of every character. I think I ended up liking Guile the most, but I'll probably be able to play Ken and Ryu too; like everyone else. I even remember the stupid tricks, like the "handcuffs" freeze from Guile, and the "invisible throw" glitch. Those who know, know what I mean. I met a lot of friends at the arcades, and had my share of beat-downs by kids younger than me.  I still want to play it once in awhile, and I had the chance to re-use those skills three years ago when I started playing it in Japan with my friend Tim. It's odd how playing Street Fighter is like riding a bike. Nostalgia ensues even as I'm writing this. 

Now I if I wanted to put an hour-count on the hours (or days) I spent idling away on Street Fighter 2 and all it's sub-series, it would be close to the 1000's I think. But just for the blog's sake, I'll just say 200 plus. 

Completion: Yes, at all difficulties.

Hours Spent: 200+ hours. 

So when I learned of Street Fighter 4, I was more than happy to welcome it's return. Too bad I don't have a PS3 or Xbox 360. Nevertheless, the heart still hungers for some thumb crunching ass-whooping. Enjoy this trailer from 1up.com. Doesn't the Ryu theme remind you of all the battles of the past?

Street Fighter 4 'Ink Bleed' HD trailer

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon - NDS

Somehow I put down the Fire Emblem game for the Wii to play this game. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is actually a remake of the first fire Emblem game published on the SNES. It's still new to me because I completely forsaked this series, as like many people did because it wasn't ported over to the United States until much later. 

The game follows the young prince, Marth, who is chased out of his kingdom by the kingdom of Gras. He is secluded to a small city in the far marginal eastern area of the land. Slowly he gathers his forces and lauch a rebellion. He has his trusted followers: Cain and Abel, Shiida, Frey, Coyote and Wolf, etc. It steadily gets more interesting as he recruits people from every map, reminisient of the old Suikoden games. I kind of reminds me of Japan's Onin war in the Muromachi period. It took me about seven maps to totally get emotionally invested, but now I'm determined to beat it. 

The game actually does well with the NDS. Having the bottom screen as the main screen and the top screen as the profile helps you switch information quick. The mechanics move the characters quick and you can always end all the turns just by hitting START - something that happens often to me. I just want to quickly reset. I'm on map 10 now, and it seems like I'm getting better finally, dying less. Until then, I'll be playing that and Henry Hatsworth, Goodshow!